The Australian Banking Association has moved to defend the closure of branches by its members, issuing a report that highlights increasing use of digital services and the proximity most people still enjoy to branches or Bank@Post.
Prepared by consulting firm Accenture and presented at the ABA conference yesterday, the report says 98.9 per cent of all banking transactions are now handled through internet or mobile banking.
Only 0.7 per cent of transactions are conducted in branches and 0.4 per cent over the phone.
According to the report, the volume of in-person branch transactions fell 46 per cent between 2019 and 2022, while internet and mobile transactions grew 26 per cent over the same period.
According to APRA’s most recent ADI points of presence survey, the number of branches fell 7.1 per cent to 4014 in the year to June 2022. Over the five years to June 2022 the number of branches fell by 29.5 per cent.
The number of “other face-to-face” facilities (mostly Bank@Post outlets) fell 0.9 per cent to 4455 in the year to June 2022 and by 7.1 per cent over five years.
The ABA report claims 98 per cent of closed branches had an alternative branch of the same bank or a Bank@Post outlet within three kilometres.
This is at odds with a 2021 Reserve Bank report that significant “cash gaps” had emerged in Australia, with around 250,000 people living more than 15 kilometres from their closest cash withdrawal location. The RBA said these people generally live outside the cities and in low-income areas.
The ABA report says that despite the steady decline in branch closures over the past few years, branch density in Australia is higher than in comparable OECD countries.
Australian branch density is 24 branches per 100,000 adults, compared with 18 per 100,000 in New Zealand and six per 100,000 in Finland.
The report also argues that branches are being closed in Australia at a lower rate than overseas.